Bali Now Has 42 Direct International Routes: The New Flights Worth Knowing About
When China Eastern's inaugural flight from Beijing touched down at Ngurah Rai in July with 287 people on board, it quietly marked a milestone. Beijing Daxing became the 42nd direct international route served by Bali's airport.Forty-two. For an island of roughly 5,700 square kilometres, that is a genuinely unusual amount of direct connectivity, and it keeps growing.Short version: getting to Bali without a connection is easier in 2026 than it has ever been, and a few specific new routes are worth knowing about if you're planning a
Bali’s Subway Was Supposed to Reach Seminyak: Here’s Where It Actually Stands
In September 2024 there was a groundbreaking ceremony in Kuta for something genuinely exciting: an underground rail line that would run from the airport through Kuta and Seminyak and on toward Berawa and Cemagi. For anyone who has sat motionless in Bali traffic with a flight to catch, it sounded close to miraculous.Nearly two years later, the site is an empty plot behind barriers. No machinery, no workers, no tunnel.Short version: Bali's subway project has stalled, the company behind it is being sued over unpaid invoices, and
Tabanan Is Quietly Becoming Bali’s Next Big Destination, and It Already Has the Best Bits
Ask a first-time visitor to name places in Bali and you'll get Seminyak, Ubud, Canggu, maybe Uluwatu. Almost nobody says Tabanan. Which is slightly odd, because two of the most photographed places on the island are sitting inside it.Tanah Lot is in Tabanan. So are the Jatiluwih rice terraces, which hold UNESCO World Heritage status. People visit both constantly without ever registering the name of the regency they've driven into.Short version: Tabanan's tourism revenue is running ahead of its 2026 targets and local officials are reporting a
North Bali Airport Just Got Presidential Backing, and It’s Being Privately Funded
A second airport for Bali has been discussed for so long that most people on the island stopped believing in it somewhere around the third announcement. It's been proposed, relocated, redesigned and shelved more than once. So the temptation is to file the latest development under "we've heard this before."This one is slightly different, and the difference is the money.Short version: the proposed North Bali airport at Kubutambahan has presidential support and is being planned as a fully private project, with no national or provincial budget money
Bali Visa Extensions Just Got Easier: An Immigration Lounge Opened Inside a Kuta Mall
Extending a visa in Bali has always involved the same small ritual: a drive down to the immigration office in Jimbaran, a queue, a number, and a chunk of a perfectly good holiday morning gone. It works, but nobody has ever described it as pleasant.That changed quietly on July 8, 2026, when the Ngurah Rai immigration office opened an Immigration Lounge on the top floor of Discovery Mall in Kuta. It's the first immigration service in Bali to operate inside a shopping centre.Short version: if you need
